Bob Douglas will remain chairman of the Bradford Sanitary Authority this year.
The appointment was made during Tuesday’s regular authority meeting, which included election of officers and committee members for 2021, according to information provided to The Era after the meeting.
Other officers will be Bob Esch, vice chairman; Norm Strotman, treasurer; Ernie Clark, secretary; Tim Roff, assistant secretary; and Brad Mangel, assistant treasurer. Other appointments include Robert L. Saunders of the Law Offices of Robert L. Saunders, solicitor; Gannett Fleming, engineer; and Ernie Clark, pretreatment coordinator.
The authority announced the following committee appointments, too: Personnel and Safety Committee — Bob Esch and Brad Mangel; Finance Committee — Bob Douglas and Norm Strotman; and Storm Water Management Committee — Bob Douglas, Ernie Clark and Bob Esch.
Also at the meeting, the board of directors heard about authority employees starting to get their first round of COVID-19 vaccines.
The employees are considered essential workers who are included in the 1B group of vaccinations.
In other news, board member Brad Preston was appointed for another five-year term on the board, said Steve Disney, the authority’s interim executive director. Bradford City council made the appointment.
The board also heard updates about several projects.
Under Phase 3 of renovations at the wastewater treatment plant, a new grinder and two Seepex pumps have been installed and have been in use since the first week of January. The new equipment is still performing well, the authority reports.
Also continuing to operate well are new CAS/WAS pumps, which were also installed as part of Phase 3. There were issues with the pumps that the authority had to address last fall.
In the field, a crew installed a composite manhole for the sewer main in the backyard of 35 Burnside Ave., which will make it easier to inspect and clean the line in the future.
They also flushed, cleaned and televised a storm main through Rookies parking lot at the intersection of Main and East Main streets.
A crew addressed a sewer complaint on Jackson Avenue by cleaning and televising an 8-inch sewer main line. They removed a large rock and used a root cutter from the flush truck to cut roots that were growing in the line.
PVE LLC — the engineer for the proposed engineering technology building at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford — sent a letter verifying the plant has capacity for 4,613 gpd, or 14 equivalent dwelling units (EDUs). Authority engineer Gannett Fleming passed the request to Bradford Township along with a note stating that the plant and conveyance system have the capacity to serve the project.
The authority has also received a sanitary sewage “will-serve” request letter from The EADS Group, a design and engineering firm representing the McKean County Housing Authority on a new project. The housing authority is planning a 1,200 square foot community center at the intersection of Barbour Street and Campus Drive.
Disney noted the authority is advertising for a wastewater treatment plant operator and is actively reviewing applications and resumes they receive.
The board meets at 4 p.m. the third Tuesday of the month.
